Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Madam gave me the name “Nan.”
She kept the childhood nickname my mother had given me for its sound, and chose the meaning of nanmu wood-resistant to decay, with beautiful grain.
I moved out of the dilapidated West Wing Courtyard into another yard that was a bit smaller, but much cleaner and tidier.
Qi’er still followed me.
I began learning commerce from Madam every day.
When Zhou Rong was combing her hair and putting on makeup in the morning, I was often already at the Lin Family Shop tallying the goods.
When I followed the Shopkeeper all over the capital to study other shops’ new products, she was balancing a bowl of water on her head to practice her sitting posture.
During the day, I was hardly ever seen in the Marquisate Manor.
At night, sometimes Zhou Rong and I would run into each other in Madam’s bedchamber.
She would act spoiled with Madam, complaining that the etiquette matron was too harsh.
I just listened off to the side while Qi’er massaged my wrists and waist with red flower oil.
It was as if the friction from my earliest days in the manor had never existed.
Only, she would often, in a thinly veiled manner, send all sorts of delicate treats to my room.
Qi’er, chewing earnestly on a piece of date and Chinese yam cake, said in puzzlement:
“My lady, why doesn’t this cake taste as good as yesterday’s?”
I gave her a light knuckle rap on the head.
“Hush. This was made personally by Miss Rong.
“It’s the thought that counts. How could it compare with what Madam makes?”
And so the days passed plainly for a few years.
I learned quickly.
By chance, once when I was minding the incense shop, I compounded for a customer a fragrance formula he had long sought in vain.
Who knew that this person was actually Fu Quan, the Chief Steward of Prince Rui’s Mansion.
Afterward, Fu Quan acted as a go-between for the shop, and we reached a long-term collaboration with the Prince’s Manor.
Madam was satisfied with my growth.
When I turned fifteen and had my coming-of-age hairpin ceremony, she entrusted two incense shops in good locations into my hands.
That spring, I attended the capital’s Flower Viewing Banquet for the first time.
I dressed plainly, with minimal makeup, but it still couldn’t stop the gentry from whispering behind my back.
Xue Jing from the Duke of Zhenguo’s Mansion finally found a chance to come speak with me.
He brushed his folding fan, crossed one leg over the other, and sat beside me.
“The jasmine scent in Second Young Lady’s hair is quite refined-might it be a case of adorning oneself for an admirer?”
I smiled and replied:
“I got it on me yesterday while handling perfume balm at the shop.
“Speaking of balm, Xiangxue Pavilion in the east of the city closed today-do you know why, young master?”
He shook his head, clueless.
“Well, they say someone exposed that their Shopkeeper used oil rendered from dead rats instead of lard to infuse fragrance.
“What a scene-the rats were each bigger than the ones I used to catch in the fields!
“Have you ever pinched a rat’s tail, young master?”
Xue Jing’s smile froze, and the hand he had been inching toward my wrist drew back, half-hearted.
After that, he sighed to me about peach blossoms; I talked to him about the worms that crawl out after peaches rot.
He tasted tea with me; I chatted about unscrupulous merchants sun-drying tea leaves that had accidentally soaked in canal rice water and selling them as usual.
In the end, he forced a smile and tried to ask me for a handkerchief I kept on my person.
I hastily removed it and handed it over.
“Do you see how bright the silk thread is, young master? I moistened it with my mouth while stitching-my mother taught me that.
“It just has a bit of a sour smell when first finished, but it’s fine once it’s been used a while…”
Xue Jing finally couldn’t stand it, sprang to his feet with a swish, and took his leave.
On the way out after the banquet dispersed, I secretly laughed to myself.
Seeing how Xue Jing had stormed off without looking back, I knew that from now on the Duke of Zhenguo’s Mansion would never again bring up taking me in.
As for reputation-well, I don’t care for that sort of thing anyway.
“What have you been up to? Grinning like a cat that got the cream.”
I turned to see Fu Quan.
He had a pair of narrow, slightly upturned eyes that seemed to carry a perpetual hint of a smile, even when his face was blank.
He really didn’t look like a steward of a Prince’s Manor-more like a fox.
The fox beamed and handed over a Jade Hairpin of Green Bamboo.
“Spring has arrived. Our Prince wants a special warming incense.
“Could the proprietor, for the sake of this hairpin, spare some time to work on it?”
I slanted him a glance, took the hairpin, and was just about to reply when Qi’er came tearing over in a panic.
“My lady, my lady, something’s wrong! There’s trouble in the manor!
“Qiuju by the Eldest Young Lady’s side has climbed into the Marquis’s bed!”